I was just finished cutting a clients lawn around 5:30 Friday afternoon. It had been pretty hot that day (28cel/ 38 humidex) I wear radio headphones while working, an extreme weather alert interrupted programming around 4:00PM, telling everyone to take cover, a severe thunderstorm with possible tornados....I ignored it and kept working. Well, the sky got pretty black, the wind picked up, I wanted to finish the place. I gassed up my leaf blower, sooner had I started blowing, I heard a loud crash, to my surprise i noted a huge branch came down from a 100 year old oak tree, it smashed the tailgate, exactly where I was standing 20 seconds before. I would have been Ottawa had two twisters that day.... I trimmed hedges all weekend, saw lots of damage in my travels about the city. John PS: I will pay more attention in future to weather warnings!
Kripes John........Pay Attention.......Glad as the devil you're still with us. Heck, I know you're still with us because I contributed in some of your earlier posts........
Wow, p-man... I was actually wondering about those tornadoes but heard they weren't in your neighbourhood. But of course your work takes you all around the city! So glad you're safe!
Glad you are OK!!.. The family and I were in that very area this summer .. we rented a place on the Ottawa River. Apparently a tornado touched down in Dunrobin - which was the town close by that we'd head to for supplies (code name for beer/wine). Apparently the tornado then crossed the river into Quebec (the hilly side of the river in the photo). Lots of damage and some injuries - but thankful no fatalities (that I am aware of). This was a life changing event for a lot of people. I hope they get the support they need. Beautiful part of the world.
Thanks... Yes, the first one hit Dunrobin, then Gatineau. The second tornado, hit the Westend of Ottawa, came thru HuntClub (close to where i was working) The East end of Ottawa escaped the worst of the storms. Funny thing, I was thinking about upcoming coin auctions while working, and did not heed the weather alerts. The "new" Conservative Premier was in the hard hit regions today to offer moral and financial support, seems like a really nice guy.
Good to hear you are okay! I have had several close calls like that. They always give you pause. I almost always ignore weather alerts when I am outdoors. I let the sky tell me everything I need to know. I can predict rain about 3-5 hours before it appears.
Thats crazy @panzerman I thought I had a bad week. I had a rather large allen wrench spin and was embedded into my hand rather deep, this was Wednesday. Friday had surgery to repair the nerves, one which was completely severed. Glad you moved before the branch fell
Yikes!! I hope everything was repaired successfully! To inject a good luck story into the thread: in Leu today I managed to pick up 6 sought after Sev Alex middle bronzes for my budding type collection.
I'll find out in 2 weeks when the brace comes off. Sure it did, feels all kinds of weird after not being able to feel it at all
I'm so sorry, Smojo! Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Hand injuries can take a long time for full recovery, especially if they involve tendons or nerves. ... Yesterday my mother and I were talking about Canada in the context of places to live, extolling how well it fares in terms of natural disasters. She said there was a tornado somewhere in Canada this week and I was skeptical, thinking tornadoes usually don't occur that far north. Guess I was wrong! (It sure is hard to type disaster. I kept typing "distater" )
Crazy story, panzerman! I’m glad you’re safe and sound! I live about an hour away. We didn’t get it nearly as bad. We just got heavy winds and rain. I lost power from 7 pm -3 am. The damage done by the tornadoes was pretty bad. Prayers for a full and speedy recovery, Smojo! Erin
Canada averages about 80 tornadoes a year .. loss of life is rare - I suppose due to the relatively sparse population. For comparison the United States averages 1200 per year.
Glad you’re still with us Panzerman! I was just in Ottawa last week for work. It’s a beautiful city. I had not been there before. I really enjoyed it.